It was a HOT weekend, but we had a great time at the first Beezer Bonanza. We had a nice entry of 31 total Ibizans, and some amazing prizes. My guys had a few big perks, with the biggest being Dean getting a second place placement! Dean is a hot/cold runner and you never know if he's going to give you a fantastic course or a creative one. It was really exciting to have him not only have two great runs, but do well in the run off as well. Even having him tied for first place in great company was a thrill. Fleura also had a great event - winning BOB Saturday for more LCX points and also hitting 30 mph twice in FCATs. The babies also had their first adventure at lure coursing!
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We traveled to TN for our last event before Evie has her babies, and Fleura ran hard as usual. She was BOB Sunday, and then ran off with the Pharaoh Hound, Saluki, Whippet, Ridgeback and Ibizan for Best in Field, and walked away with her sixth fancy ribbon. This ultimately gave her the necessary 40 points to finish her ASFA Field Championship. We also enjoyed meeting her sister, Fera, who is sweet as can be.
We lucked out with amazing weather this year for Memorial Day weekend, and it was unseasonably cool and breezy. I was unable to attend the first day of the trial due to a family event, but we made the most of our one day. The Beezers had an absolute blast, with all three of mine catching the lure during one of their runs and having a good time with it. Aiden made absolute field confetti of it and Evie came happily recalling back with a bag over her head and around her neck, so it was sailing behind her like a cape. She was very pleased with herself. She put in some strong runs today and won FCh, earning her first LCM points, but couldn't quite pull through in BOB. She had some great corners, but Ayla had her on speed. They had to restart after Evie grabbed the lure and ran around in her special bunny cape, and she just got too wild. Dean was second also for some points and Aiden tied for 4/NBQ, but sadly lost the coin flip.
Fleura ran great and was her usual hardcore self, but the thing that I was most proud of was that she was so unphased by an incident that occurred on the field that could have ruined some dogs. She recovered immediately and just kept running, with no change in her positive attitude. I really admire those aspects of her temperament so much. She ultimately ended up with Best in Field, running with the Ibizan, Whippet, Pharaoh and Basenji, and there were some really great runs from the Ibizan and Whippet especially. I'm very proud of her! It was a super fun weekend, even with Sunday having pouring rain all day long. I got to hang out with my friends Karen, Kayla and Hiland, and the dogs all had a blast running together. There were some particularly stand out moments, like Azula jumping straight over Tigger, and poor Dean taking a faceplant at top speed. Overall, my Beezers did not have the greatest runs on this field, but I did come to the conclusion that Dean runs better muzzled. This field has a lot of visual barriers on all sides, and the more experienced dogs were definitely showing that they knew where the "bunny" wasn't going to go. With the muzzle on, Dean was just distracted enough by it to not think so hard about things and he ended up second place on Sunday for a point. We all stayed over at Kayla's house on Saturday night, which was a lot of fun and a nice change from car camping. The dogs loved it, and Azula was a gracious hostess, sharing her home with six other dogs (along with her semi-permanent resident, Evie).
Fleura had a great weekend, winning BOB both days for another 10 LCX points, and winning her third Best In Field on Saturday! We had a near oops, as she had a really beautiful run in prelims on Sunday (in the pouring rain - oof) and when I checked scores she was much lower than I expected her to be, as compared with other runs of the day. Obviously, I am not a judge, but I have been lure coursing long enough now that I usually feel like I have a decent idea of where my dogs will be in the scores. I didn't want to make a stir about it though, just because it felt out of line. Luckily, her breeder (who is a judge and whose dogs were the majority of her competition) came up and questioned it himself. He had seen the scores and then asked the judge who his prelim winner was, and the judge had replied "the little naked bitch in the third course", which is a pretty hilarious and accurate description of Fleura. Eddie had them recheck scores and, sure enough, there were a few miscalculations and Fleura's score went up a couple points to be the high score for prelims. It was a close call with her half-brother, Lucius, and she narrowly beat him by a point for BOB. In Best in Field on Saturday, she ran off with Azula the Ibizan (who won BIF on Sunday), and with a Pharaoh Hound and a Whippet. There were some absolutely beautiful runs, and Fleura and Azula were very well-matched especially. The Whippet had a nearly flawless run, but I believe Fleura bumped ahead just because she ran with a dog who matched her so well, and she was just that little bit faster this day. I was very proud of the squirt. She's really exactly the performance hound I hoped for. I had a lot to be proud of this weekend! Fleura was BOB the first day and 3rd place (1 point behind the tied 1-2 run, one judge) the second, adding on 7 more LCX points. Niko was second place the first day, having tied with his much younger nephew and then won the coin toss, so he added another LCX point as well. Saturday wrapped up just before dark with a BIF between Fleura, the Pharaoh Hound, the Ibizan and the Saluki. All of them were really nice runners, and I was extra proud when Fleura was announced Best in Field. She received some very kind comments from her judge as well.
I had a wonderful time with my coursing community, and was really happy to have a new Afghan person come hang out, as well as a friend with a Deerhound. It's always great fun getting new people started in the sport, and I think everyone had a good time. We had a great time at a new field (for us) in Florida. We arrived very late at night (as per usual) and camped with Sarah, of Abbaio Ibizans, The weather was hot and muggy, and we had a big downpour in the evening, and the love bugs were out in force! It was a fun trip regardless, especially as the field is very large and fully fenced, and there was a great place to take some of the dogs off leash hunting in the evenings. I had all the Beezers, minus Fenix and Rylan, and Fleura, as well as an extra along for the ride: Ayla, belonging to my friend, Katie, of Kamar Ibizans. The main goal of the weekend was to hopefully get Ayla's majors needed to finish her Field Championship, which was accomplished, along with a BOB and Best in Field.
Fleura unfortunately only had one other dog to run with in breed competition, but she enjoyed meeting and flirting with him. She won both days, and had two very good BIF runs, particularly her Saturday run. There were some technical difficulties and the lure died shortly into her run with the Whippet and Ridgeback, and everyone had an impromptu playdate after killing and shredding the bag together. Unfortunately, this proved too much for the Whippet, who was very tired when they got started again. It was a shame, as the three dogs had started off with a really nice run with their first start. I could tell Fleura was a little tired as well, but you wouldn't be able to tell if you hadn't seen her run at speed. The Ibizans all had at least one really good run per day, but unfortunately most of them didn't have two! Both courses had some tight turns and I was really impressed with how my crew handled them! The twisty course kept them on their toes. We had a competitive group of 7 Opens, 11 Specials and 3 Veterans on Satuday, and Evie was second place and only a point behind first place, and Niko tied for 3/4 but lost the coin flip. Dean had one spectacular run, and one run where he got kind of creative, so he was out of the placements. On Sunday, we had a few fewer entries, with 6 Opens, 9 Specials and 3 Vets. We had a three way tie for 3/4/5, which included Dean, who had some really excellent runs. This course really brought out the best in the Beezers. Unfortunately, Dean cheated badly on the run off, which isn't unexpected at this point. Evie was pretty tired after her hard running from Saturday and was out of the points. Niko was tied behind the big three way tie. No points for my crew this day, but they had a great time hunting later in the day and they were able to be off leash as I was packing up (we were the last to leave) and they were so good about waiting with the van while I packed. Fleura got her second 5 point major in TN with a BOB win. We had a great Ibizan entry as well. Beautiful weather and all my favorite people!
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